Chapter 6

Transported to another dimension, the group found themselves inside a cave. Samuele looked around a bit.

At first glance, the cavern looked identical to the first one he had entered, but this one was slightly different. Sure, it stretched lengthwise for roughly a few hundred meters, but there were lighted flashlights in the stone walls that allowed everyone to walk through without any problems.

"Apparently, the flashlights I brought are useless today." Said Marco with a small wry smile.

" But what about the mission?" Those who asked that question did not have to wait long to receive an answer from the System itself.

[QUEST!]

KILL ALL THE CREATURES INSIDE THE CAVE.

Samuele raised an eyebrow at the System's very general answer.

'Are there different creatures?" he thought to himself. In fact, the last quest he had been on clearly specified the enemies to be killed. He had even changed the quest.

Marco seemed to have read his mind and spoke.

"All right, apparently today we don't know who we will be dealing with. It could even be multiple species of monsters. Let's move forward and be on guard."

The group moved forward, with Marco keeping behind everyone else. They did not have to walk long for them to hear sounds of multiple fast footsteps coming toward them.

Thanks to the flashlights placed in the cave walls, they were able to see the creatures immediately.

It was a small colony of goblins advancing toward them at great speed. Everyone got into a fighting stance and waited for them to come closer.

Samuele remembered the tactic the group had used last time and it was very similar to this one. The only difference was just the fact that they could now see better thanks to the light emanating from the flashlights. They did not need to stand all together tightly to be able to see the goblin attacks.

From this point of view, if the advantage of the goblins was their numbers, the advantage of the group of Adventurers was precisely their sight.

As soon as the goblins came close enough, the Newbies raised their swords and brought them down on them. Meanwhile, they used their shields to shield themselves from the attacks of other goblins.

Samuele continued to attack and kill the goblins.

[CONGRATULATIONS!]

YOU LEVELED UP!

...

[CONGRATULATIONS!]

YOU LEVELED UP!

For every small group of goblins he killed, a little bell rang in his head and a small screen appeared above him. His smile grew bigger and bigger. Each level increase made him stronger, faster. And Samuele could tell by the damage he was inflicting on the goblins. If it used to take him a few sword strokes to kill a single goblin, it now took him a maximum of two swords. Moreover, as his agility increased, the swing time of the sword decreased.

Samuele enjoyed it so much that when he did not see any more coming toward him, he was disappointed.

Fortunately, the quest was not yet over. The group continued to advance. The previously narrow cavern now widened, forming a kind of circle with an underground lake in the center, fed by a waterfall falling from a crack in the ceiling.

The group looked in admiration at that spectacle of nature.

"It's beautiful..." Muttered a female voice, which Samuele recognized to be Sofia's. Her voice had really stuck with him despite the small conversation he had had with her.

"Do not be distracted. Remember that we are in a cave full of monsters." Marco reminded them.

Indeed, they heard screeching sounds coming from above the cave. They all raised their heads to see what it was and saw an exorbitant number of giant spiders.

"Be careful! A single giant spider is weak, but in a group they are not to be underestimated!" Explained the leader.

As the group prepared for another fight, the giant spiders came down from the ceiling walking the walls and reaching the ground.

The location of the fight was not ideal, thought Samuele. In fact, the underground lake occupied the central part of the ground and only the outer part remained. Going back was not the best solution either, given the space each of those spiders occupied. Against the goblins, being very small, they had had no problem dealing with them despite the narrow space. The spiders, however, were another matter entirely.

"What do we do, leader!"

"We can't face them here!"

"Please help us!"

Seeing that the group had begun to become alarmed, Marco intervened and shouted.

"You are not facing them alone! You are a group, get it through your heads! Think hard about what you can do together!"

Newbies' group could not say they were reassured by his words. What was he talking about? What could they do together?

Samuele thought about it and opened his eyes slightly wide. An idea had occurred to him, but he did not know if it was a good one.

"What if we created a defensive line formation, with shields in front, so as to protect ourselves? As soon as the spiders launch their attack, those in front with shields protect those behind with them coordinating their attacks, attacking a single spider as a group. That way we can take them down faster, right?"

The whole group listened to his plan and thought about it. Marco Terranova smiled and spoke.

"It's worth a try. In any case, if anything goes wrong I'm there to protect you." He reassured everyone.

Meanwhile, the giant spiders were getting closer and closer. Samuele's plan was for them to form a defensive line, but where they were was impossible.

So they went back and five Newbies stood in front of everyone with shields in both hands, ready to protect those behind them with all their strength. The latter prepared themselves with swords.

The spiders began to attack those in front. That part of the cave being narrow, the spiders stood in a line of two. Once the line in front had done its duty, they retreated one step and those behind attacked the two spiders, killing them instantly.

The group smiled.

"It's working! We can do it!" Samuele was happy that his plan had positive results. Not only were they killing the spiders, but he had also boosted the morale of the whole group.

The spiders, however, were not such stupid creatures.

"Guys, on the walls!!!" Sofia shouted.

Once they understood their tactics, some spiders took advantage of the walls to climb up and jump toward them.

Samuele cursed. He had not anticipated something so obvious. Fortunately, the group somehow managed to pull through.

The front row attacked the spiders jumping toward them with their shields, dropping them behind the second and final row of the group, giving the latter a chance to attack them while they were still recovering.

Now the group was divided between those attacking the spiders climbing into the walls and those attacking the spiders in front of them.

In this way, the group was able to kill each of the spiders. Granted, the front line that had defended the team had not leveled up, but on the other hand, they could say that they had become infuriated, ready to kill all the other creatures that stood in their way.

Samuele looked at his status screen and smiled.

{PROFILE}

NAME: SAMUELE RUA LEVEL: 6

TITLE: NEWBIE

CLASS: NONE

PV: 1200

{STATISTICS}

STRENGTH: 6 SENSE: 6

INTELLIGENCE: 6 AGILITY: 6

VITALITY: 6 STAMINA: 6

He was rising at an incredible speed, as one normally does at the first levels. Soon he would reach level 10 and became excited. It was called the "first milestone," precisely because it was the first goal that was reached by everyone who became an Adventurer. For many, in fact, even the last.

But not for him, Samuele was convinced. He was not going to stop at level 10. He hadn't gotten that random cap break. He had to reach at least level 50. Samuele also hoped for 100, but maybe it was still too early to think about that number.

No, it was better to continue in small steps. First he would reach level 10, then 20, then 30, and so on. It was useless to think about such high numbers now. He would reach them someday, but that day was still a long way off.

So the group continued to advance more charged than ever, and back at the area of the underground place they saw an entrance leading to a dark corridor. It appeared to be wider, so they did not complain too much.

Marco took flashlights and gave them to some people so that they could more effectively illuminate the dark cavern.

They entered and walked down the path. Then they stopped with curious and slightly nervous looks.

"What are those monsters?"

They were creatures similar to large bats equipped with sharp claws. Their eyes were wide open observing them, as if they were waiting for them. Not that those eyes were noticeable at first glance, being completely black.

"Grotesques..." Samuele answered the boy who had asked the question, also observing them with curiosity mixed with nervousness.

"Exactly. They are not very resistant, so with a well-placed attack they die instantly." Informed Marco.

"So we can do it, just like before!" Sofia exclaimed, again putting everyone in a state of excitement.

"Come on, come here, you monsters!" Incited some of the group.

The Grotesques, as if they understood them, became furious and flew at them with claws ready to kill them.

None of them, however, came unprepared. With skill, they all killed the monsters resembling large bats and a little bell rang in their heads.

[CONGRATULATIONS!]

YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE QUEST! YOU CAN RETRIEVE THE TREASURE CHEST AT THE BOTTOM OF THE CAVE.

EXIT THE PORTAL BEFORE IT CLOSES.

Some of them rejoiced at the completion of the quest, others for another reason.

"Yes, I have reached level 10!!!"

"Me too!!! The System is choosing my Class!"

"My Class is Healer!!!" Sofia also shouted, joining the joy of those few who had reached their first Adventurer milestone.

Samuele looked at his screen and cursed internally

LEVEL: 8

'Just my luck...' For only two levels, Samuele could not get his Class. Then again, he had imagined this. He had started at a slight disadvantage compared to the others. In his previous quest, his level had maxed out at 2, somehow breaking it only after finishing the quest.

Usually, in fact, it took only two quests to reach the so-called "first milestone." Unfortunately for him, his bad luck seemed to be acting even now.

"All right, guys. I'm happy for all of you who got your Class. But it's time to retrieve the chest and go back."

The chest was not large at all and could be lifted with ease by even one of them. Everyone eventually went back and came out of the portal.

The boy who had carried the chest all the way opened it and, along with all the others, saw that there was really nothing much inside. Sure, there were treasures, but divided into nine they wouldn't really yield much money.

At the sigh of disappointment from some, Marco spoke up.

"You should know that the rewards of these portals are no big deal. Rather, focus on the fact that you have become stronger. Most of you got a Class, so you really have nothing to complain about. For others, this was your first quest ever. Be happy that you fought those monsters with great skill."

'Look at that, I'm neither in the first group nor the other...' Samuele thought with a bitter smile.

"Well, since they got a class as a reward, we can take that treasure, can't we?"

"Don't count on it! At least half of this treasure is mine, I carried it all the way back. I'm entitled to it!"

"You didn't even struggle to carry it, you're not entitled to anything!"

And so, the argument continued among all the members of the group. Eventually, the leader had to intervene to stop them before they punched each other. Samuele's bitter look was quickly replaced by a small amused smile, also causing him to think positively.

'Whatever, it will be for next time.' He said to himself, content with the result achieved that day.

Looking at the time in his phone, he decided to go home and get some rest, waiting for his next quest and finally level up.

END OF CHAPTER.

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Here is finally chapter 6 for you!!! What do you think? Good, bad chapter? Let me know by commenting or leaving Power Stones.

See you in the next chapter!!!